The Florida Tourist Murder Case
by SkipThisPartAndCallMeRyu
Summary: It was a nice thing to think of, and it was probably going to be the last thing he thought of, because death was real. And it was standing right before him.  Read at your own risk because this is a mess, as I'm trying to re-write this.
1. Prologue Part Un

Prologue: The Case (Part Un)

In Mello's eyes, nothing was worthwhile unless it involved a risk, that was why instead of asking for permission and going in the morning, he convinced his partner in crime to sneak into the file room with him and steal a case. It wasn't unfair and hardly illegal, besides Roger would never allow them to partake on a dangerous case, and L would want them to do it. At least, that's what he told Matt. Not that Matt really cared, he just wanted his room mate to shut up and if helping him steal a case was what it took, he'd gladly do so.

That's how they ended up in a freezing room in the dead of night hunting for something even remotely interesting, equipped only with small penlights. And the search was rather futile. Missing dog, missing necklace, assault, missing painting. There was nothing good, nothing real, nothing L worthy.

"Find anything?" he whispered to his red headed companion. There was no reply. "Dude! Did you find anything?" He hissed, louder than before. Still he was ignored. "Matt!" No reaction. Growing extremely annoyed Mello grabbed a paper weight and threw it at the red head.

Matt had gotten into plenty of fights before. He was confident in his skill, and knew he could take on almost anyone in Wammy's house. However experience told him not to make a blonde that bore resemblance to a girl angry. Those type of people were extremely violent. So he didn't react to Mello's outrageous action as he normally would, had it been someone else. He simply pretended he had been hit by something else. A pillow perhaps, or a large marshmallow. Taking slow, deep breaths (as to not prove all "redheads are temperamental homicidal freaks of nature" stereotypes to be true) Matt turn around and in a polite voice asked: "What is it that you want O Mighty Mello? As I am positive you have excellent reason for hitting me with a brick."

Detecting the sarcasm but not really caring Mello repeated his question.

The question seemed extremely unnecessary to Matt, who found it common logic to tell someone if they had found what the other was looking for, unless the search was a contest of sorts. "Didn't it occur to you that I probably would have told you if I had?"

"Yes," Mello replied without a moment of hesitation. To that Matt came up with over a hundred snappy replies, but he kept his mouth shut, knowing sometimes doing nothing was the best course of action.

* * *

Click, clack, click, clack. By now the picture less puzzle was becoming far too familiar. The Rubik's Cube too easy. And the path of the Chinese wire puzzle had been long sense memorized. Near was bored.

The Lego's had been fun for a while but the truth was, Near needed a job. He needed something important to do, something difficult that would keep his hands, at least for a while. He could wait for L to give him something to do, but it wasn't as if the famous detective kept that on the top of his to do list.

He could ask Roger for a case, but knowing the old man nothing worthwhile would come from that. Perhaps he could... No, never. He had been told specifically not to ever enter the case room, under _any_ circumstance. Rules were set for a reason. And that reason was of course for the safety of the children... On the second thought, he never really cared much for rules, and he was bored as hell. Besides, it's what L would want him to do.

He opened the door, just a crack, and peered out side. Almost all lights were off except for some emergency lights and two awkward beams moving around in a room all the way down the hallway. There were few rooms that direction, and Near could guess exactly where they coming from. That is, unless someone saw it cool to snoop around in a janitor's closet.

Near knew he wasn't the only one that wanted a job. But he'd assume everyone would just ask, which proved how stupid he was, to not consider Matt and Mello.

He sighed, guess it isn't the first time they beat me to the punch.

* * *

"Dammit!" Mello whispered/screamed. He knew a murder case wouldn't just pluck itself out of a shelf and plunge into his outstretched arms, but he didn't think it'd be that hard to find an interesting case. He must have scanned through about three hundred files already. And the most intriguing thing so far was the missing painting.

"Maybe we should just give up," Matt suggested in a soft whisper. It was Mello's turn to ignore. The redhead rolled his eyes and continued his search.

It was at that moment that the search took a turn for the better, because it was at that moment that Near came into the room and had the sense to turn on the light.

"You are not supposed to be here," Near said quietly. Not that he was in the position to say anything.

"Neither are you, so beat it," snapped Mello.

_Beat it? If he's trying to be like Michael Jackson... he's got the cross dresser part down. _Near thought to himself. His mind was the dwelling place of sarcasm, though he tried hard not to let anyone know. "You're in the wrong area. If you're looking for a job."

Mello froze. There was no way he had spent half an hour digging through files in the freaking section. At least there was no way he'd let the Albino know. There was also no way in Hell he'd let Near know he'd never been in the room before, especially if _he _had.

"Huh?" Matt had no ego problem, nor did he have an ongoing rivalry with Near (outside of Mario Kart, that is) so he had no difficulty asking.

"Murder cases are over there." he pointed to a sign on the far side of the room, which read 'Murder Cases Here', and had an arrow pointing directly under it.

"Now how'd we miss that?"

* * *

Five minutes later Mello found what he was looking for, and by that logic so did Near and Matt. It was a manilla folder entitled "The Florida Tourist Murders". After a short debate, in which Matt took Near's side, it was decided that the three would work on the job, together as a team. However dangerous and unwise _that _might be.

**Ta-da! Same story, different everything. Yeah, I'm rewriting it, because I hated the other one. Disclaimer: I don't own anything that is owned in this Chapter... made more sense in my head...**

** Any who, I never said I hated Michael Jackson, and that's not what I was implying when I called him a cross dresser, the main character of this story is a cross dresser, no? That being said, I don't like Michael Jackson.**

** Now, if you haven't been offended yet, click where it says "Review Chapter" if you wanna see something cool. And once you click it, tell me about my new writing style. Love it? Hate it? I don't care, tell me anyway.**

** Ciao.**


	2. 1 Departure

One: Departure

** UK: England: Wherever Wammy's house is. **

"Hello, Mister Watari? It's me, Near." Near was in Mello's room, sitting on Mello's bed, using Mello's phone. Which was just a way to add fuel to the fire, as he had his own phone.

"Last night I saw Matt and Mello up and about in the file room."

"Hey you promised not to tell!" protested Mello.

"Relax boy, I know what I'm doing." Near replied. His hand was covering the phone's mic.

"You better..." Mello grumbled.

"Near are you still there?" said Watari from Japan.

"Yes Watari I am." Near said "Anyway, I found them exactly when they found a case, an interesting one, might I add."

"I see, you are asking permission from me, knowing Roger would never allow it." This was not a question, but a statement; as Watari could catch the penny before it dropped.

"Precisely."

Watari was quiet for a moment, and in that moment Near heard L say: "Let them go," pause for cake "It would be good for them."

"Fine," said Watari, "you can go, I'll send an email to Roger that says; Mr. Ruvie, I have found a job that should be pursued. Unfortunately with L working on the Kira case, I believe that our three greatest minds Near, Mello, and Matt, should go investigate. I have already faxed the file to them. Please make sure they are able to arrive without delay.

"Sincerely, W"

"That's perfect, Watari. Thank you." Near said.

"It wasn't a problem."

**USA: Florida: Orlando: ZCC office.**

"No! No! Absolutely not!"Chris yelled at his fellow 'detectives'.

"Why not?" C-lo protested, "It would be fun."

"That's why! You two," He pointed an accusing finger at Zack and C-lo "are idiots!"

"You've done life threatening jobs before!" Zack also protested.

"Yeah, like the time you rescued the twins from the craze–"

"That was before I knew you two!" A vain popped in his forehead.

"I bet Ariel would help us..." C-lo said in a sing song voice.

Chris was quiet for a moment, in hi eyes Ariel was and I quote, a bronze skinned goddess. He met her years ago. Back when they were the mid-school detectives. C-lo was still in middle school, but every group needs a tinier person as a signature.

"Do you really think Ariel would help?" Chris said hopefully.

"Um...Yeah, I mean..."

"You know what, forget the girls! Lets do it for the money!" said Zack.

**UK: England: Wherever Wammy's house is. **

The three boys where in Mello's room. Packing.

"Hey Near?" this came from Matt.

"Yes?"

Matt tossed a white plastic tube at Near, the label read "X-treem Sun care!" and "SPF 150."

"What is this?" Near asked.

"Sun lotion, it so you-"

"I know what it is, but why are you giving it to me?" Near interrupted.

"Well it's cause..." Matt struggled to find the right words, knowing Near was touchy in the albino subject.

"It's cause you're a freaking albino!" bellowed Mello.

"Well I appreciate you're concern but I won't need this. He set the tube down. He then turned to Mello.

"Are you really going to be needing all that chocolate?" he said as he watched Mello stuff his suit case with the precious treats. Then he turned to Matt. "Leave the cigarettes, do some thing for your life this few weeks."

Matt rolled his eyes and took out the glorified suicide sticks out of his bag.

Mello didn't get rid of his chocolate though. He had all ready agreed to let Near help. And a guy has to have his limits.

"We ready?" asked Matt, the two boys of lighter hair nodded. "Then let's roll."

** Me: Second Chapter is up!**

** Mello: No freaking duh!**

** Me: (Pushes Mello into fan girl closet) Okay guys you know the drill (you should anyway).**

** Reviews = love = inspiration = better(longer) chapters = reviews. Got it memorized?**


	3. 2 The number of people really involved

Two: The number of people per group that are actually involved.

USA, Florida, does-it-matter-where?

While Chris tried to decide on whether or not he would take on the case, another murder occurred. A man named Brian Bless had his eyes popped out, his tongue cut off and his fingers crushed.

While Chris had no connection to the man, it was this that made up his mind.

"Zack! C-lo! Come on, we have work to do." the simpletons did not reply. "Zack! C-lo! Get your lazy asses over here!" still there was no answer. "Okay, get your occasionally hard working asses over here!" this was followed by another annoying silence.

Chris sighed of course he'd have to go find them. As he waked down the hall of the ZCC building (which was actually one of Ariel's old mansions as the members of the ZCC were all broke) he muttered words like _Stupid _and _Useless. _He walked into the building's arcade room and was not surprised to see C-lo on the computer. He was, however, surprised to see that Zack wasn't with him.

"Sit down Chris," said C-lo, without even looking from the computer screen.

Chris scanned the room, looking for a proper chair but finding instead a bean bag chair. He plopped him self down and waited for whatever C-lo was gonna say.

"I understand you have decided to help with the investigation." How he knew this is a mystery, but why he was behaving like a Near was simple; C-lo was somewhat bipolar.

Chris nodded.

"Good, good..." once again he did not look from the screen, "Our first step is clear, we take it public, then... well I'm not sure what."

He spun the swivel chair around so that he was facing Chris. His eyes were alive with excitement, which meant two things, the professor-like C-lo was gone, the un-professor C-lo had a plan.

UK, some fancy airport no one know about.

It took Near every ounce of his being, not to slap Mello across the face. This was because Mello would not shut the heck up about the aeroplane being late.

"I swear, Near, you were supposed to make sure that we would leave at 8:47 and what time is it? 9:01!" Mello said.

"..." replied Near.

"Mello! How can it be his fault that the plane is a little late?" Matt had to, once again, be the peace maker. "Oh look at that, here it comes." He pointed at a silver coloured speck against the bright blue sky.

A few seconds later the speck took the shape of a private jet. They were some of the only ones in the super-fancy-airport, so they were able to board without further delay.

As they got on Mello knocked on the door to the cockpit. The pilot stuck his head out the door. "Yes?"

"You are late!"

"I believe I'm right on time." objected the pilot.

"I believe your watch is slow." said Mello unhappily

USA:Florida:Orlando:ZCC

"You can do that?" Chris asked.

"Yeah," C-lo assured, "But it's highly illegal and um... fun, and we all know how you hate fun."

"Oh, haha! That's very funny." Chris said, stale a popcorn.

"So...?" asked C-lo.

"Le' do it!" Chris said, probably trying to be funny. "By the way, where's Zack?"

"Huh?" C-lo asked "Where? Wasn't he with you?"

Chris shook his head. "Forget it, if we know Zack he's at the arcade or flirting on a girl that's way out of his league."

C-lo smiled. He flipped open his Laptop and began typing like crazy. Chris tried but he couldn't for the love of him keep up.

"We're on..." Immediately every Direct TV, Bright house, Dish Network, and hundreds of other TV companies' screens went off.

And on went a Papyrus D. D for detectives.

"Hello, uh... people. My name is C- never mind my name. The point is...um..."

"Give me the freaking mic!" Chris hissed. C-lo obeyed.

"Listen! We are the ZCC, there is no point in keeping this secret. We are currently investigating the Florida Tourist Murder Case. And we already have a theory."

"We do?" C-lo asked unfortunately forgetting that he was in live TV.

"Yes we do. That is all for now." He snapped the Laptop shut.

"High Five!" he said to his younger friend. They both slapped palms.

**Over the pacific.**

Near's eyes widened in amazement. The Americans had all ready got a move on. They had competition.

He turned his laptop to Matt. "Look at this," he had recorded every minute of News 29, including the unexpected message**.**

Matt watched, then his eyes grew, so much that they were visible under his goggles. He looked at Near.

"We have got to meet this guys," he paused, "Mind if I show Mello?"

Near stared through his coal eyes, making Matt very uncomfortable. "Not at all." he said this so distastefully it kind of scared Matt. If he wasn't there, surely Mello and Near would kill each other.

"Thanks..." he said with a shudder.

Near sighed as Matt left. What was his problem? Didn't he know Mello wasn't really part of the plan? He was just a condition and would end up getting in the way. But no, Matt had to consult with Mello every chance he got. That made him sick.

** USA:Florida:Orlando:ZCC**

"Where the hell have you been?" Chris was yelling at Zack.

"I was at the Arcade hanging with this girl..." he reached into his pocket and took out a blue colored paper. "She even gave me her number."

C-lo took the paper. "Yes I'm sure she has a numerical order phone number."

Zack took the paper and glanced at the writing, it said (123) 456 7890. "Oh man!" he complained.

"Well you deserved it!" said Chris. "We all ready had to start. Without you!"

"Hey! You know we don't do anything without consulting first!" Zack protested.

"Yeah well by the time you get here all of the tourist in Florida would be dead!" Chris snapped.

"Yeah? Well-"

"SHUT UP!" C-lo yelled. The other two boys stopped. But evil glares through two pair of coal colored eyes were aimed at him.

He sighed inwardly. If he wasn't there surely the two others would kill each other.

**Yeah the next chapter is up!**

** Mello: *magically appears* No freaking-**

** *pushes Mello into dark void***

** Sorry I took so long,**

** By the way, can you guess if where I'm from? (just to see if I do my job well...)**

** And also, tell me what you think the ZCC crew looks like (I never described them) That is all dear readers. **


	4. 3 Cliche

_**Okay...New Chapter Time! Sorry I took so long... Anyway this chapter might be a bit different cuz I'm writing this for me, not necessarily you...**_

_**

* * *

**_

Three: Cliche

Location: ?

Time: 7:57pm.

Day: The same as the day ZCC got involved

The shadows masked his presence well. He was underground, mostly because it's a private place but also because he wanted to fit into the classic bad guy cliché. There was only a single light bulb illuminating the cavern (classic evil lair cliché). He sat on a throne-like chair, completely hidden from the light.

From farther up the tunnel, he heard footsteps. _Here comes the pawn..._

A man who called himself Edwin Brave came into view.

"Hello, Edwin. I trust everything has been taken care of." Said the Evil Villain cliché. Edwin fidgeted slightly.

"But–" Evil Villain cut him off. "You failed in other words. You do realize that killing someone isn't the worst thing you will have to do. Now, I expect that when ever I request you to do something you will do it."

"But Sir! They're just children!" Edwin complained. He hoped his boss would be sensible enough to change his mind. No such luck.

"Tell me, is a child's life worth more than a grown up's?" Boss asked.

Edwin gulped "N-no sir."

"Are they any more vulnerable than the elderly?"

"No sir..."

"Will you once again hesitate to do my bidding?"

"No sir."

"Didn't think so."

Edwin stood waiting for what to do next.

"Well, go on now, shoo! Finish you task mister Queen."

Edwin, turned around to go, but froze momentarily. "M-Mr. Queen? You said?" He saw the silhouette of a man shrug. "Yes, that _is _your name."

Edwin's eyes grew larger than their sockets. "How..how did you know?"

"Heh, heh...you don't keep secrets from Boss..."

* * *

Location: Orlando International Airport

Time: 8:00pm

Day: Same day as above...

Only Near had been smart enough not to bring extra luggage. The other Wammy's unfortunately weren't. They were still behind awaiting their bags.

Near sighed. Florida honestly wasn't what it seemed. The sun was hidden by thick fluffy clouds that weren't at all thick nor fluffy. There were no perfectly tanned people, handing out oranges to strangers, with their oh so perfect smiles. In fact most of the people he had seen so far were wearing light jackets, ear buds, and those who were eating seemed to like sweets rather than healthy vitamin C stocked fruits. Also there were no little kids running around displaying mickey mouse hats. Which was a real bummer, as Near found those hats interesting and worth while.

While he waited, Near spent his time staring at a useless decoration in front of him. It was one of those boats in a bottle things you find in novelty shops in old towns, usually under some highway so no one ever found it.

Anyway, those boats had failed to interest Near because, though they looked like it, they were not toys. He pressed his face against the glass. It's a sad day when this is what you do for fun. He stared at the...aft? And the um...crows nest (oh I'm on a role), imagining a pirate crew going about their daily business. In his little daydream he had made him self Captain Nate River. Backlung Matt was his 1st mate. And Cross-dressing Mello had been forced to walk the plank.

As he pictured this, there was a scream. Near looked towards the direction of the scream. The escalator. This meant that the scream could come from anywhere downstairs. And judging by how empty the escalator was, no one would be there to help.

_Perfect, just perfect. Some girl is in trouble, and obviously I am the only person who can help..._ he thought and then grimaced, _I must work on my multisyllabic vocabulary skills..._

He looked around, but the lobby was empty. _Lovely._

He walked over to the escalator, and ran down. Unfortunately he used the wrong escalator, and so he ended up tacking twice the time he would have he had used the correct one.

Under the lobby, everything looked different. The place was illuminated by florescent, light bulbs. With no one there the place looked rather eerie.

"Hello? Anybody here?" he asked, feeling stupid. Only in Disney films did the evil guy ever reveal his location.

Near sighed and stepped into the middle of the room. Nothing happened.

He was just about to turn when he heard it. A shrill scream coming from farther in. Given the time and situation Near began to think of them as tunnels. Tunnels, a very accurate observation as it would soon turn out.

* * *

Location: Orlando International Airport

Time: 8:06pm

Day: Same day as above...

"Where is he?" Mello fumed. Really how does this happen? One second there's a little kid standing there and the next, _whoosh, _he's gone!

"Okay, let's be rational, Near would never leave for no reason. He's to smart to be kidnapped, or to just wander of which means something must have happened," Matt said. _But what? _He thought silently.

"No duh, Sherlock." Mello snapped. "But what if he's in trouble, or hurt?"

"The thought never occurred to me..." Matt grumbled sarcastically. Wait! Was Mello actually _worried_? For _Near? _He made a mental note to bug Mello about that later.

"Excuse me?"

The teenagers jumped. The lobby had been empty when they got there, so the stranger's arrival caught them by surprise. The whirled around. Standing there was a boy, about Near's height, with a black version of Near's hair. He wore a jacket that questioned Japan's sanity because "if kira-kira means shiny, why the hell call killer Kira?"

"Um, yes?" asked Matt after confirming the information on the jacket's authenticity.

"Have you seen a girl, about 5 foot 4 inches?...wait...don't I know you from somewhere?" the boy mused, but Mello figured that if they had ever met the kid they'd have a hard time forgetting him.

"No t0 y0ur first question, and probably not to your second." he said.

The boy opened his mouth t0 say something, but at that moment they were interrupted by a scream coming from the direction of the escalators.

"Ariel!" the boy gasped and took of running. Matt and Mello shrugged and followed.

* * *

_**Heh heh... sorry about taking so long **_**and _leaving you at a cliff hanger..._**

**_Any way, if you want more chapters...review! or not...that's okay to..._**

**_Flames (which for some reason I haven't gotten) will be used to light the candles in my house, which I use to write because electric lights are a waste and they don't look cool...at all.  
_**


	5. 4 Hero

** A/N: So I'm back, with a new style and everything. Anyways the only thing I feel like saying is that after going to the Orlando International Airport, I decided it's to big and flashy for the airport in the story, the Tampa Airport looks better. Or was it the Lake land Airport... one of those... whatever, I'm gonna go with Tampa. So pretend it said TIA from the beginning.**

** Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, or any other trademarked thing mentioned in the story. I own the ZCC though, so yeah.**

Chapter 4: Hero

Tampa International Airport

About a minute after chapter 3

Near was no hero. He never once pretended to be one, but he knew that when ever there was an injustice, he rather die trying to fix it, than live knowing he could have changed it. _Sometimes not doing something is the worst choice for every one else, no matter how easy it seems to you. _These words had been drilled into his mind for a long time, for as long as he could remember. He liked to humor himself by pretending that those were his first words. He knew that it was impossible but sometimes pretending was healthy for him. It helped him clear his mind, it helped him organize his thoughts. L said that everybody had that, a quirk that improved them, though it was different for everybody. Matt smoked and played video games, Mello had a thing for chocolate and Near pretended.

So today, Near pretended. He imagined. He saw through a different set of eyes. Today he was a hero; no, he was _the Hero_. _The Hero_ that always won, that never died. It was a nice thing to think of, and it was probably going to be the last thing he thought of, because death was real. And it was standing right before him.

Mello was never one to follow someone else, he considered himself a leader a leader. Matt wasn't like him. Matt followed. He wasn't stupid, and he could think for himself, but he chose not to. He chose to keep peace between the Wammy children and not disagree with them. Some times, he feared that would cost him his life, but it was like Near said, the smoking would kill him before anything else.

Cigarettes where not his addiction, for a long time, he hated them. But having fallen into a deep depression after the Kira case first came up, he forced himself to take a drag, and another., until soon the taste wasn't appalling. It wasn't an addiction, it was something he would quit once L came back. Whenever that would be.

In the mean time, Matt tried to keep these thoughts out of his head, and focused on the matter at hand. Near was missing, a girl had screamed, a young boy recognized the voice; this made for a very confusing puzzle, though being a candidate to be L's heir, he knew enough to see a possible connection to everything. Near had sensed the danger and gone off playing hero. The person who was in danger was the same person who screamed and the boy knew her.

"Ariel!" the boy had screamed before he made them follow him down the escalator, into the dimly lit world of out-of-order baggage claims. Matt had to wonder about their relationship. Was Ariel the boy's friend? His girlfriend? Was their relationship like Near and Mello's (which could have been worst). Were they enemies? And if they were enemies, what was it that the boy intended to do once he reached her? The questions were driving Matt insane, he was supposed to be able to answer questions, that's what being L's heir was all about. Asking questions was what other people did, it was what the people that he needed to help did.

WWLD? What would L do? This was difficult to say, but soon the answer became apparent, he would have noticed the hidden string, he wouldn't have tripped over it, and most importantly, he wouldn't have set of a timer. A timer that was strapped to a dozen or so blocks of C4. The C4 that was connected with hundred's of wires running in all directions wrapping themselves into a thick heavy blue wire that tied around the legs of two swivel chairs to which two people had been tied to. One was a boy, the other a girl. They made an odd pair, an African American and an Albino.

The Albino, Near looked over at the trio with sorry written all over his face.

"I just had to be the hero," he whispered.

**A/N: Aha! A real cliff hanger! The last one was more of a slope hanger than anything. So yeah, I'm back! I'm sorry this chapter's so short. I originally planned to drag it out for about...2,000 words but instead I made this lump of a thing... Sorry about that...**

**REVIEW OR DIE! Actually I feel no homicidal tendencies so I'll just make a promise for longer chapters, mmmkay?**


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